Previous
Captain Gibaut
Dan Keeler is a sailor with a reputation for troublemaking who serves under Captain Henry Prince on the Henry. Nat Bowditch selects Keeler to join his watch. Despite his tough exterior, Keeler proves to be an eager student of Nat’s navigation lessons—so eager, in fact, that he becomes able to sign on with a different crew as an officer.
Dan Keeler Quotes in Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
The Carry On, Mr. Bowditch quotes below are all either spoken by Dan Keeler or refer to Dan Keeler. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 12: Down to the Sea
Quotes
Why, [Nat] wondered, had he ever wanted to come to sea? Why did any man choose this life?
It was all right maybe for a man who became a captain—but what about men like Keeler and Jensen—who spent their lives before the fo’c’sle? Why would they live like this for salt beef, hardtack, and twelve dollars a month?
The sixth night, just before midnight, Nat went on deck for his watch. The storm had ended; the sky was glittered with stars.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Nat was silent for a moment. “Maybe, sir, it’s because I want to pay a debt I owe to the men who helped me; men like Sam Smith and Dr. Bentley and Dr. Prince and Nathan Read. Maybe that’s why. Or maybe it’s just because of the men. We have good men before the mast, Captain Prince. Every man of them could be a first mate—if he knew navigation.”
Captain Prince muttered something under his breath. “An odd business!” he said. “But I’ve never had less trouble with a crew. Carry on, Mr. Bowditch!”
[…] Someone tapped on the door, and Monsieur Bonnefoy entered, smiling. “I have a confession to make […]. I was eavesdropping through the skylight […]. Monsieur Bowditch—he has the magnificent spirit! It is worthy of the French Revolution! Liberty! Equality! Fraternity!”
Chapter 17: Lunars and Moonlight
Quotes
Zack Selby sneered. “You’d think he was running a whole fleet of ships, single-handed, to hear her take on.”
Sour grapes, Nat thought. Zack’s still before the mast, and he’s ten years older than Lem. He said, “I’m glad for Lem, Amanda, but I didn’t do it for him. He did it for himself. He worked and studied harder than any man in the crew.”
“That’s just it, sir!” Amanda said. “Nobody else ever got him to stick his nose in a book!”
Zack sneered again. “Books! Salem men have come to a pretty pass when they have to sail by books! Time was they could double the Horn with nothing but log, lead, and lookout.”
“That’s right, Nat agreed. “They doubled the Horn. And sometimes they got home again. But what about all the ships that don’t come home? If ‘sailing by book’ makes men a little safer, what’s wrong with it?”
Get the entire Carry On, Mr. Bowditch LitChart as a printable PDF.
Dan Keeler Quotes in Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
The Carry On, Mr. Bowditch quotes below are all either spoken by Dan Keeler or refer to Dan Keeler. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 12: Down to the Sea
Quotes
Why, [Nat] wondered, had he ever wanted to come to sea? Why did any man choose this life?
It was all right maybe for a man who became a captain—but what about men like Keeler and Jensen—who spent their lives before the fo’c’sle? Why would they live like this for salt beef, hardtack, and twelve dollars a month?
The sixth night, just before midnight, Nat went on deck for his watch. The storm had ended; the sky was glittered with stars.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Nat was silent for a moment. “Maybe, sir, it’s because I want to pay a debt I owe to the men who helped me; men like Sam Smith and Dr. Bentley and Dr. Prince and Nathan Read. Maybe that’s why. Or maybe it’s just because of the men. We have good men before the mast, Captain Prince. Every man of them could be a first mate—if he knew navigation.”
Captain Prince muttered something under his breath. “An odd business!” he said. “But I’ve never had less trouble with a crew. Carry on, Mr. Bowditch!”
[…] Someone tapped on the door, and Monsieur Bonnefoy entered, smiling. “I have a confession to make […]. I was eavesdropping through the skylight […]. Monsieur Bowditch—he has the magnificent spirit! It is worthy of the French Revolution! Liberty! Equality! Fraternity!”
Chapter 17: Lunars and Moonlight
Quotes
Zack Selby sneered. “You’d think he was running a whole fleet of ships, single-handed, to hear her take on.”
Sour grapes, Nat thought. Zack’s still before the mast, and he’s ten years older than Lem. He said, “I’m glad for Lem, Amanda, but I didn’t do it for him. He did it for himself. He worked and studied harder than any man in the crew.”
“That’s just it, sir!” Amanda said. “Nobody else ever got him to stick his nose in a book!”
Zack sneered again. “Books! Salem men have come to a pretty pass when they have to sail by books! Time was they could double the Horn with nothing but log, lead, and lookout.”
“That’s right, Nat agreed. “They doubled the Horn. And sometimes they got home again. But what about all the ships that don’t come home? If ‘sailing by book’ makes men a little safer, what’s wrong with it?”
